Anti-Racism Task Force

The system of oppression that disadvantages people with disabilities and advantages people who do not currently have disabilities. Like other forms of oppression, it functions on individual, institutional and cultural levels. Ableism is not solely about the experiences of people with disabilities as targets of discrimination, but rather about the interaction of institutional structures, cultural norms, and individual beliefs and behaviors that together function to maintain the status quo and exclude people with disabilities from many areas of society.

Anti-racism is the active process of acting to challenge not only one’s own biases and prejudices, but involves actively engaging in the work of dismantling racism as a system of oppression and dismantling the policies/social relations/attitudes/practices that promote and/or sustain racial inequality.

Colonialism is the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country to exploit it economically and/or occupy it with settlers.

Decolonization is the withdrawal of state control of a former colony that leaves the territory to be self-governed and independent and also a process through which colonial power and the privileges it has created are dismantled through reviewing policies, procedures and laws to remove inequities between the colonizer and the colonized. Decolonization requires colonizers recognize and accept the impact of historical and current colonial policies on the colonized and to choose to restore equity.

Deficit ideology an intellectual explanation and political rationale that characterizes the racialized other or colonized individual as being "lesser than". This logic then underpins arguments for why colonization is justified and acceptable.

Diversity refers to all the ways that people differ, including characteristics, personal experiences, values and worldviews

Equity is the guarantee of fair treatment, access, opportunity and advancement for all students, faculty and staff, while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of marginalized groups.

Everyday racism is a concept conceived by sociologist Philomena Essed which refers to the "mundane" elements of everyday life that are typically not recognized because these manifestations of racism have become so normalized that they are typically not identified as racism.

Everyday racism refers to tone, language, a gaze, forms of surveillance (in public spaces stores), differential treatment/service (being ignored in a store, denying the reality of a BIPOC person, or the expectation that one can speak for all members of a racialized group) and actions such as moving when an Indigenous, Black or racialized student is seated beside a person on the bus or in the classroom.

Everyday racism is multidimensional and its impact is cumulative.

Historical trauma is the cumulative emotional harm to an individual, generation or multiple generations caused by a traumatic experience or event.

Inclusion is the process of creating an environment in which any individual or group can be and feel welcomed, respected, supported and valued to fully participate in all the opportunities afforded by the university.

On Turtle Island (Canada), Indigenous refers to people who identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit. Indigenous is used instead of Aboriginal for three reasons. First, Indigenous is internationally recognize within the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Second, and more importantly, "Aboriginal", like "Indian" is considered an external colonized creation and has been officially denounced by the Association of Manitoba Chiefs in 2014.

Third, Indigenous comes from the Latin world "indigena", which means "sprung from the land." As such, Indigenous not only recognizes territory and land claims, but it connects Indigenous people to their land.

Intersectionality is a term associated with critical legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaw. It refers to the ways that racism, racial discrimination, harassment and vilification are frequently linked/shaped/informed by other elements such as sex, gender, class, (dis)ability, religious faith and sexuality.

Intersectionality disrupts either/or frameworks by offering a lens to represent how different forms of inequality work together and aggravate each other by describing how the various elements of our identities result in some people experiencing multiple oppressions and inequalities simultaneously.

Microaggression are everyday slights, insults, actions, verbal and non-verbal cues that message to target marginalized groups that they are not fully valued or trusted, do not belong, or are unwelcome. Microaggressions can be unintentional; but impact must be considered over intent.

People experience microaggressions differently based on intersectional identities and power relations between individuals, within institutions, and in society. Microaggressions have a cumulative impact on individuals.

Race is one of the fundamental components of descriptive systems of difference in society (e.g., along with sex-gender, class, ability, and sexuality).

At its inception, race was defined as a natural or biological difference, indicated by physical features such as skin colour, hair texture and other bodily features. The creation of race as a key system of classification was created during European imperial and colonial domination to justify hierarchies of humanity.

Despite efforts to locate differences between different groups as evidence of biological and/or genetic differences as unsound, science demonstrates that the differences within different groups are greater than the differences between the so called races. However, there remains a significant investment in identifying racial differences as natural and inevitable, as evidence of intelligence, ability, worth, and so on. Rather, scholars and researchers recognize that race is a socio-historical and social construct.

Racial discrimination refers to behaviour that impedes and disadvantages people, by withholding benefits, opportunities due to their perceived race, colour, nationality, ethnicity, ethno-religious or national origin.

Racial equity is a process of eliminating racial disparities and improving outcomes for everyone. It is the intentional and continual practice of changing policies, practices, systems, and structures by prioritizing measurable change in the lives of people of color (Raceforward.org)

"Race" refers to the invention of different subspecies of people based on physical and cultural characteristics such as skin colour, accent or manner of speech, name, clothing, diet, beliefs and practices, places of origin, etc. Racialization, then is "the process by which societies construct races as real, different and unequal in ways that matter to economic, political and social life" (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2005, p. 11). Recognizing race is a social construct, racialized identities now replaces inaccurate and outdated terms such as "racial minority", "visible minority" or "non-White".

Racism is the differential treatment of various human racial groups by a dominant racial group rooted in the belief of the superiority of one group over the other. Racism takes many forms, some of which include symbolic, embodied, psychological, institutional/systemic, everyday and interpersonal.

Racism is a deeply embedded historical system of institutional power that continues to operate regardless of the intentions of current actors unless intentionally interrupted.

Racism differs from individual racial prejudice and racial discrimination in the historical accumulation and ongoing use of institutional power and authority to support prejudice and to systemically enforce discriminatory behaviors with far reaching effects.

Racialized peoples are denied access to social, economic, and political systems that regulate, define and control all aspects of their lives.

Systemic/institutional racism refers to the arrangements and practices that maintain racial hierarchies and racial inequality.

It includes policies, behaviours and practices that are part of the social, cultural or administrative elements of an organization and which produce or maintain positions of disadvantage for racialized individuals.
 

White/settler fragility is the emotional discomfort and defensiveness on the part of a white/settler person when confronted by information about privilege, racial inequality and/or colonial injustice.